Graph Editor interface overview

The Graph Editor includes a toolbar, outliner and a graph view.

• The Graph Editor toolbar is at the top has quick-access controls for working with keys and curves in the Graph view.
• The Graph Editor outliner on the left side is where you find Graph Editor nodes that represent animation curves. It is similar to Maya's Outliner, but has some Graph Editor specific features
• The Graph Editor Graph view on the right side is where you manipulate curves and keys.

Graph Editor menu bar

The Graph Editor menu bar contains tools and operations for manipulating animation curves and keys within the graph view of the Graph Editor.

Graph Editor toolbar

Graph Editor toolbar (A) default (B) Simple

The Graph Editor toolbar contains icons for commonly-used options that are found in the menus and by right-clicking the Graph Editor Interface. For descriptions of what these icons do, see Graph Editor toolbar.

Note: There are two versions of this toolbar: the default, which has a full set of curve editing and display options, and the Simple Toolbar, which has only select editing and display options. You can switch between these toolbars with the Simple Toolbar toggle in the Graph Editor View menu.

Graph Editor Outliner

Like the Maya Outliner, the Graph Editor Outliner shows a hierarchical list of all viewable channels in the scene in outline form. You can expand and collapse the display of branches in the hierarchy; lower levels of the hierarchy are indented under higher levels. The Graph Editor Outliner is where you select which animation curves to display in the Graph View.

You can use the Search function to locate channels in the Graph Editor the same way you can in the Maya Outliner. See Search and filter nodes for more information.

Graph Editor Graph View

The Graph Editor Graph View displays animation curve segments, keys, and key tangents. You can pan and zoom through the graph view using the same navigation hotkeys as the Maya Viewport and scrub animation along the Time ruler at the top by dragging the Current Time Marker left or right. (To scrub in the Graph view below the Time ruler, press K to release the cursor, which is locked to prevent unintentionally moving keys/curves.)

Tip: You can move the position of the Time ruler in the Graph Editor from the top to the bottom of the Graph View using the Time ruler position setting in the Graph Editor View Menu. Moving the Time ruler to the bottom aligns it with the Time Slider beneath.

Graph Editor current time marker

The Graph Editor Current Time Marker indicates the frame currently shown in the Viewport. Drag it along the Time Ruler at the top of the Graph View to scrub through animation.

The Time Marker is locked so you cannot scrub through the Graph View. This prevents accidental dragging of curves. To unlock the Time Marker so you can drag in the Graph View, press K at the same time as you drag.